The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-01-28
HAULING IN THE NET.
A Memorable Day at the Brook
lyn Tabernacle.
Over Three Hundred New 1fstnhers Re-
eeiVed by Rev. Dr. 7. De Witt Tall
mRge-An Impressive Sermon By
the Eminent Divine.

BROOKLYN n. Y, Jan. 28.-0Ver three
hundred new members were received at the
Brooklyn Tabernacle to-day, In COM
nemoration of this event. DR.. Talmaga
preached the following sermon, choosing
for his te-t the eighth verse Of the six
tieth chapter of Isaiah: - Who are these
that fly as cloud, and as the doves to
their windowsl' He said:
. When God would set fast beautiful
thought, he plants it in q tree; when He
would put it afloat, He fashions it into a
fish; when He H6u1d have il glide through
the air, He molds it into bird. There IS
to many of US complete fascination in
the structure and habits of birds-the
blackbird, floating like fake Of darkness
through the sunlight the meadow lark,
with head of fawn and throat of velvet,
and breast of gold; the red famingO,
flying over the Southern swamps, like
sparks from the forge of the setting sun:
the pelican, white and black, morning and
night, tangled in its wings-they seem not
more Of earth than Heaven, ever vacIllat-
ing between the two.
No wonder that Audubon, with his gun,
tramped through all the American forests
in search of new specimens. Biologists
have spent years in finding the track
of birds claws in the new red sandstone.
There is enough of Gods architecture in a
snipe's bill or grOuse's foot to confound all
the universities. Musicians have, with
clefs and bars, tried to catch the sound of
the nightingale and the robin. Among the
first things that child notices is a swal-
low at the cav es, and grandfather goes out
with a handful of crumbs to feed the snow
birds. The Bible is full of ornithological
illusions,
The birds Of the Bible are not dead and
stuffed, like th1se of the museum, but liv-
ing birds, WITH 1uttet.ng wings and plum
age. Behold the fowls OF Ghe ait,''
says Christ Though thou exalt thyseR
as the eagIA ard though thou set thy nest
among the stars, thence will bring thee
down." exclaims Obadiah. ''Gavest thou
the goodly wings TO the peaeeGlsp' says
Job. David describes his desOlation by
saying: 81 am like pelican of the wilder
ness; 1 am like an owl of the desert; I
watch, and am as a sparrow on the house
top" ''Yea, the stOrk in the heaven
knoweth her appointed times and the
turtle and the crane and the swallow
observe the time of their coming; but
my people know not the judgment of the
Lord" says Jeremiah. And in the text
Isaiah looks ahead and sees the gathering
of many people unto Christ and the Church,
and it makes him think OF flock of pigeons
alighting on their coop, and all at once try
ing to get in at the window of the coop, and
he cries out; ''Who are those that fly as
a cloud and as the doves to their VIM
dows1"
This is one of the memorable days of the
Brooklyn Tabernacle. On other Sundays
we drop the net; to-day we haul it in. On
other days we send out the invitations for
a Kings party; to-day we SIT at the
banquet. On other days we fight the bat
tie; now we claim victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Ye who have toiled
and contributed and prayed for the success
of this institution take unto your souls the
grand satisfaction of this hour. To you, o,
men and women, is fulfilled the promise /:
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy"
Wake up, 0, Church of God and bring
garlands and music and let US celebrate our
"harvest home"
Oh, this mercy Of Godl am told it is an
ocean. Then 1 place on it four swift-sail-
ing crafts, with compass and charts and
choice rigging and sklIlful navgators, and
tell them to launch away and discover for
me the extent of this ocean. That craft
puts out in one direction, and sails to the
north; this to the east; this to the southi
this to the west. They crowd on all their
canvas and sail ten thousand years, and one
day came up the harbOr Of Heaven; and a
shout to them from the beach: Have you
found the shoreP And they answer: mo
shore to Gods mercy |" Swift angels, dis
patched from the throne, attempt to go
across it; for one million years they fly and
fly, but then come back and fold their
wings at the foot of the the throne, and
cry: mo shore no shore to Gods mercyl"
Mercyl Mercy sing it; 1 preach it;
pray it. Here I find man bound hand
and foot to the devil, but with one stroke
of the hammer of Gods truth the CHAINS
fall off and he is free forever. Mercy
Mercy Mercy There is no depth it can
not fathom; there is no height it can not
scale; there is no infnity it can not COM
pass.
Whar yereopa or7,Ivy for v,,aya aT,arebiv IN
to any society, the question is asked:
'Who are they, and where do they come
from2' and as this multitude of people pre-
sent themselves to day for membership it
IS right that we should ask: "Who are
these that come as doves to their win
dowsl'' They are captives, whose chains
have been broken; they are soldiers, who
have enlisted for thirty years. warj they
are heirs of Heaven.
They come as doves to the windows,
first, because they fly low. The eagle darts
up, as if to strike its beak into the sun
There are birds that seem to dwell under
the caves of heaven; you see them as lit
tle specks against the sky, so far off that
yJu can not guess the style of their plumage
or the shape of their bodies; they float so
far away that if the hunters gun be dis
charged at them they do not change their
course. Not so with the doves or pigeons
they never take any high excursions. They
fly around your roof and alight on the
fence, and seem to dislike great attitudes.
So these souls who come to Christ and to
His church to-day fly low. They ask no
great things; they seek an humble place at
the feet of Christ; they are not ashamed
30 be called beggars for mercy; they are
willing to get down on their knees, and to
crawl under the table, and to pick up the
crumbs of the Gospel provision. There
were days when they were proud and
punctilious and inexorable and puffed up;
but not now. The highest throne on earth
could not tempt Mary away from jesus
feet Stoop, o pardoned soul, il thou
wouldst enter Heaven. A high look and
proud heart God hates. Fly low. 1t is
mercy that thou canst fly at all. Remem-
Der all the years Of thy sin; thy days of
youthful wandering; thy days of manhood
transg sgessions; thy sins-dark, brOoding,
dreadful sins-against thy soul, against
thy Bible, against thy God.
In one of the benevolent institutions Of
Europe where the destitute are provided
for the new comers have their photographs
taken while in rags before they are washed,
so that they may always have in the pict-
ure a reminder of the degradation from
which they were lifted; so in his book God
keeps before thee a picture Of thy former
destitution and raggedness Of soul. Fly low
It is an offended God before whom thou com
est. Thou deservest His wrath. He scat
tered the one hundred and eighty-five
thousand Sennacherib's host in a night; |
He abhors sin; He will judge the nations.
Holy, holy, boly, Is the Lord God Almighty. |
Fly low.
thousand years ago an emperor plant !
ed rose bush from which roses are I
plucked to-day. At the foot Of the cross /
nearly nineteen centuries ago a rose was I
planted which blooms to-day; stoop down, I
If thou wouldst pluck it. o, for more Of 1
the child-lilze spirit I rejoice in the be- /
lief that those who come to Christ to-day, 1
come aware Of their sins and their wants, 1
and have learned how to fly low.
Again, these persons who come to-day 1